David Ward is Art and Margaret Herrick Endowed Professor of Plant Biology at Kent State University. His research interests lie in the field of the ecology of plant species redistributions. This includes studying both invasive and encroaching plant species. He is also interested in studying the natural process of succession. Most of his research involves trees but he also studies the effects of herbivory by large mammals (such as elephants) on the population biology, community ecology and conservation of plant populations. He believes in the value of field experiments to allow us to gain a mechanistic understanding of the factors that create large-scale vegetation patterns.
* 1: Introduction
* 2: Abiotic factors
* 3: Morphological and physiological adaptations of desert plants to
the abiotic environment
* 4: Morphological, physiological, and behavioural adaptations of
desert animals to the abiotic environment
* 5: The role of competition and facilitation in structuring desert
communities
* 6: The importance of predation and parasitism
* 7: Plant-animal interactions in deserts
* 8: Desert food webs and ecosystem ecology
* 9: Biodiversity and biogeography of deserts
* 10: Human impacts and desertification
* 11: Conservation of deserts
